Stateless queue system for synchronized client consumption of queued content

ABSTRACT

A stateless queue system implements and supports a virtual room containing a content playback queue. The system allows multiple clients to listen to queued content in a synchronized manner and to modify the same queue without requiring a broadcasting client to send playback events. The system includes a multiplicity of computing clients that can add content items to the queue by interacting with an application service. The clients are enabled to add content to the queue in a number of ways, including by simple add-on to the bottom of the queue, by vote, or by direct modification of the queue structure. Upon client entrance into the playback session, data is provided to the client that represent the queue order at the time of request, the number of votes each items contains if structure is determined by vote, the start time for each queued item, and the current playing item.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application is a divisional patent application of pendingU.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/670,847 filed in the United StatesPatent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on 7 Aug. 2017, the contents ofwhich are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to computer-based systems and methods forproviding group stream broadcasting within a social media or digital fanclub platform. The present invention expands upon state of the artsocial networking methods and is particularly directed to socializing asynthetic re-broadcast and group stream environment in whichparticipants have multiple content or data origins with an ability toprioritize and queue content for playback.

Brief Description of Prior Art

Social media and digital fan club platforms utilize mobile and web-basedtechnologies to create highly interactive environments through whichindividuals and communities share, co-create, discuss, and modifyuser-generated content. However, some social media and digital fan clubplatforms limit the way by which a user can share content. For example,certain social media environments and digital fan clubs do notincorporate email, instant messaging (IM), phone calls, or live videofeeds into their supported technologies.

The prior art thus perceives a need for enhanced means for sharingcontent within a social environment including group stream broadcastingwhereby a broadcasting client initiates a content sharing event and thecontent as broadcast to community connected clients share in contentconsumption as selectively sourced to each content based onuser-preferred sourcing. Further, the prior art perceives a need forprioritized queueing of content being added to the group stream orbroadcast experience. The present invention attempts to address theseshortcomings in the prior art as summarized in more detail hereinafter.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The stateless queue system according to the present invention isdesigned to implement and support a virtual room containing a contentplayback queue as exemplified by a music queue. The stateless queuesystem allows multiple clients to listen to queued content in asynchronized manner and to modify the same music queue without requiringa broadcasting client to send playback events. The stateless queuesystem comprises a multiplicity of computing clients that can addcontent items to the queue by interacting with an application servicethat further operates to store all queue structure and data in adatabase.

The clients are enabled via the application service to update or addcontent to the queue in a number of ways, including by simple add-on tothe end or back of the queue, by vote, or by direct modification to thestructure of the queue. The clients may also rely on the applicationservice to provide the current order of the queue, as for example, whenentering into a playback session. Upon a client entrance into theplayback session or joining the virtual room or alternatively based ontime-based re-presentation, data provided to the clients represents thequeue order at the time of request, the number of votes each itemscontains if structure is determined by vote, the start time for eachqueued item, and the current playing item.

The stateless queue system according to the present invention operateswithin the context of the systems and methods for implementingsubscription-based social media or digital fan club platforms made thesubject of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/048,480, now issued asU.S. Pat. No. 9,729,497 and the systems and methods for group streamingand rebroadcasting made the subject of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/305,977, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,116,616, the specifications,claims, and drawings of which were incorporated in their entirety inU.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/670,847, parent to this divisionalpatent application. More particularly, it is contemplated that thepresent invention may well cooperate with the chat and live videoaspects or provisions of U.S. Pat. No. 9,729,497, and the live videoaspects or provisions of U.S. Pat. No. 10,116,616.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic depiction of a stateless queue according to thepresent invention showing a virtual room in which the stateless queue ispositioned with an upper immutable portion and a lower mutable portionwith clients able to add content to the lower mutable portion.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart diagram of a resynchronization protocol ormechanism according to the present invention for providing a playbackposition based on playback start time and synchronized time.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart diagram of a server-direct synchronizationprotocol or mechanism according to the present invention whereby thestateless queue service and one or more clients directly link to thetime-synchronizing server for playback synchronization.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart diagram of a server-indirect synchronizationprotocol or mechanism according to the present invention whereby one ormore clients link to the time-synchronizing server via the statelessqueue service for playback synchronization.

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic depiction of a stateless queue according to thepresent invention showing a virtual room in which the stateless queue ispositioned with an upper immutable portion and a lower mutable portiondepicting prioritized content addition to the lower mutable portion ofthe stateless queue.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT AND METHODS

Referring now to the drawings with more specificity, the stateless queuesystem according to the present invention is designed to implement andsupport a virtual room containing a content or media playback queueexemplified by a music queue as at 3. The stateless queue systemaccording to the present invention is built upon a non-transitorycomputer-implementable application implemented by one or moreapplication-implementing computers typically in the form of mobiledevice clients all in communication with a centralized server network.The stateless queue system allows multiple clients, includingbroadcasting client 1 and broadcast-receiving clients 8 to consumecontent from the queue 3 in a synchronized manner while further enablingthe client(s) 1/8 to modify the content queue 3 without requiring thebroadcasting client 1 to send playback events.

The computer-implementable stateless queue application service accordingto the present invention enables or provides a queue creation service asat 12 for creating a content queue 3 and for storing queue structure andsupport data in a database. The plurality of application-implementingcomputer clients as at 1 and 8 are independently operable to selectivelyadd content to the content queue 3 by a select content additionmechanism. The select content addition mechanism is preferably selectedfrom the group consisting of simple end-based or bottom-based contentaddition, vote-based content addition, and direct modification-basedcontent addition.

The stateless queue system according to the present invention may thusbe said to comprise computing clients 1/8 all of which implement thecomputer-implementable application service 12 for adding content items 2(e.g. music tracks) to the content queue 3 by interacting with theapplication service 12 that stores all content queue structure and datain a database. The client(s) 1/8 may update as at 11 the content queue 3by vote as at 21, or by direct modification 22 of the queue structure.

The client(s) 1/8 may further rely on the application service 12 toprovide as at 10 the current order of the content queue 3. The provisionof content queue order may typically occur on client entrance into thesession (e.g. by joining the virtual room) or periodically by way of atimer (e.g. every “n” seconds). The data provided to the client(s) 1/8during content queue order provision embraces (a) the queue order at thetime of the request, (b) the number of votes each item 2 contains or isaffiliated with (if queue structure is determined by vote), (c) thestart time for each queued item 2, and the then currently playing item2.

When a client 1 adds an item 2 to the content queue 3, the newly addeditem 7 is by default or most simply added to the bottom of the contentqueue 3 as generally depicted in FIGS. 1 and 5. This content additionmay thus be referred to as an end-based or bottom based contentaddition. The bottom-based content addition mechanism of the applicationservice 12 of assigns a playback start time as at 13 to newly addeditem(s) 7. The playback start time 13 of any given newly added item 7 iseffectively equal to the sum of the playback start time 13 of thepreceding item or item precedent and its duration as at 25.

Playback synchronization is preferably achieved by way of synchronizingtime across clients 1/8 and a centralized server network as prefacedabove. This is preferably and more particularly achieved by directingthe application service 12 and clients 1/8 to independently synchronizeas at 23 with a Network Time Protocol or NTP server 24 as generallydepicted and referenced in FIG. 3 or alternatively by directing theapplication service 12 to synchronize 23 with an NTP server 24 withclient(s) 1/8 indirectly synchronizing through the service 12 asgenerally depicted in FIG. 4.

FIG. 3 thus depicts a server-direct time synchronization mechanismaccording to the present invention whereby the client(s) 1/8 directlylink to the NTP server 24, and FIG. 4 depicts a server-indirect timesynchronization mechanism according to the present invention whereby theclient(s) 1/8 link to the NTP server 24 via the application service 12.The latter mechanism ensures time consistency given load balancing orclustered conditions. The client(s) 1/8 preferably synchronize as at 26with server time via the application service 12 by obtaining NTP server24 time and adjusting it by a portion (e.g. half) of the time it tookfor the request to to be fulfilled from the NTP server 24.

In both alternative time synchronization scenarios, the time across theapplication service(s) 12 and the client(s) 1/8 are preferablysynchronized to within a single second. Once time is synchronized,playback is preferably synchronized for the purpose of providing acurrent playback position 16. The current playback position 16 ispreferably calculated by subtracting item playback start time 13 fromthe synchronized time 14 ultimately provided or controlled by the NTPserver 24. This process 15 indicates or governs the playback position 16from which the content playback should initiate or to which the contentplayback should be synchronized in the case of de-synchronization.

Reprioritization 20 of the content queue 3 or items therewithin may bepreferably performed in one of two ways. The content queue 3 preferablycomprises two portions, including an immutable portion as at 27consisting of both already consumed or played items 4 as well as thethen playing item 5. The immutable portion 27 is preferably andperiodically cleaned or wiped on a time interval, and data from theimmutable portion 27 is preferably stored for generating group-curatedqueues 3. The mutable portion 28 of the content queue 3 is preferablyreprioritized/updated by either a voting mechanism 21 or by a directinput or modification mechanism 22 as discussed in more detailhereinafter.

Referencing FIG. 5, the reader will there consider that when the votingmechanism is implemented as at process 21, the queue order is determinedby votes in descending order of vote strength. The queue order ispreferably calculated either on a timer or every time a client 1/8submits a new vote. When queue order is directly modified as at process22 each client 1/8 is enabled to controllably submit the position of anitem or manually re-position an item within the content queue 3.

In either re-prioritization 20 scenario as at voting process 21 ordirect modification process 22, all items in the affected range 19require a recalculated playback start time 13. Referencing item 29 inFIG. 5, the reader will there consider item 29 immediately follows amoved item moving from an old position 17 depicted in broken lining to anew position 18 depicted in solid lining. Item 29 thereby inherits thestart time of the moved item at the old position 17.

All other depending items recalculate their respective start times fromitem 29 and its newly inherited start time. This is done by adding theduration of each respective item to the start time of the item thatprecedes it or the precedent item. For example, referencing FIG. 5, thestart time of the next item 29 effectively becomes the start time of themoved item at the old position 17. The start time of the successive itemto item 29 will depend from the duration 25 of item 29 plus the starttime 13 of item 29. The start time of the moved item at the new position18 is the start time 13 of item 30 plus the duration 25 of the item 30.

While the above descriptions contain much specificity, this specificityshould not be construed as limitations on the scope of the invention,but rather as an exemplification of the invention. For example, it iscontemplated that the present invention preferably and essentiallycomprises a stateless queue system for allowing multiple clients toconsume synchronized queued content. The stateless queue systemaccording to the present invention is believed to essentially comprise anon-transitory, computer-implementable application or service 12 forsupporting the system or for implementing the stateless queue systemaccording to stateless queue system rules and protocol generallydescribed hereinabove.

A plurality of application-implementing computer clients as at 1 and 8implement the non-transitory, computer-implementable application, whichwhen implemented, provides a queue creation service for creating acontent queue 3 and storing queue structure and support data in aseparate database. The plurality or multiplicity ofapplication-implementing computer clients 1/8 are independently operableto selectively add content items to the content queue 3 by a selectcontent addition mechanism as selected from the group consisting ofbottom-based content addition generally depicted in FIG. 1 orre-prioritized queue modification as at vote-based content addition asat process 21 and direct modification-based content addition as atprocess 22 in FIG. 5.

When content is added to the content queue 3 via the bottom-basedcontent addition mechanism, newly added content item 7 is preferablyappended to a queue bottom and assigned a playback start time 13. Theplayback start time 13 of the newly added content item 7 is preferablybased on both playback start time(s) 13 of content item(s) precedent 6and duration(s) 25 of the content item(s) precedent 6. The statelessqueue system according to the present invention may preferably comprisea Network Time Protocol (NTP) server 24 in communication with theplurality of computer clients 1/8 such that content queue 3 is playedback to the plurality of computer clients 1/8 in a selectsynchronization manner governed via the NTP server 24.

The select synchronization manner is preferably selected from the groupconsisting of a server-direct synchronization as generally depicted inFIG. 3 or a server-indirect synchronization as generally depicted inFIG. 4. The server-direct synchronization manner is characterized byindependent client-to-server and service-to-server linkages 23 such thatthe clients 1/8 and application service 12 are independentlytime-synchronized. The server-indirect synchronization manner ischaracterized by a service-to-server linkage 23 and a clients-to-servicelinkage as at 26. In either case, the computer clients 1/8 preferablysynchronize with server time by obtaining server time and adjustingserver time by a portion (e.g. half) of the fulfillment time. Playbackis preferably synchronized by determining the current playback queueposition, the current playback queue position being determined orcalculated by subtracting the item playback start time 13 from aserver-synchronized time 14 as generally depicted in FIG. 2.

The content queue 3 preferably comprises an immutable portion as at 27and a mutable portion as at 28. The immutable portion preferablycomprises previously consumed or played content items as at 4, and acurrently playing or consuming content item as at 5. The mutable portion28 is amenable via the select content addition mechanism as previouslydescribed. IN the case or re-prioritization 20 of queue order, the queueorder may be determined via either vote-based content addition as at 21or by direct input or modification content addition as at 22.

The vote-based content addition process 21 operates to modify queueorder by vote number in descending order of strength, and may becalculated either periodically via timer or iteratively when a new voteis submitted. When the queue order is determined via directmodification-based content addition 22, the requesting client 1/8determines queue order directly by client re-order or placement ofcontent items with in the queue as for example moving a content itemfrom the old position at 17 to the new position at 18.

The mutable portion 28 is preferably governed by a playbackrecalculation protocol in the event of either content addition. Theplayback recalculation protocol is characterized by movement of a selectcontent item to a new queue position as at 18. The select content itemnaturally has a successive content item, which successive content iteminherits the original start time of the select content item. All otherdepending content items recalculate their respective start times basedupon the successive content item and the inherited start time thereof.Further, all other content items recalculate respective start times fromthe successive content item and the inherited start time by addingduration of each respective content item to a start time of a contentitem precedent.

Recalling that the presently described stateless queue system buildsupon the concepts set forth in the '480 application, it is contemplatedthat the present invention may be further said to provide a method forimplementing a social media platform comprising a series of steps. Aserver may receive from at least one content sharing client anApplication Programming Interface (API) first request for initializing alive stream from the content sharing client. The API first request ispreferably generated by a non-transitory, computer-implementableapplication running on the content sharing client. The server may storemetadata information of the received API first request in a databasecoupled to the server.

The server sends a stream configuration second request to an encodingservice provider requesting a plurality of stream configurationswhereafter the server receives stream configuration information from theencoding service provider and stores the received stream configurationinformation in the database. The server may then send the streamconfiguration information to the content sharing client, receiving afirst notification from the content sharing client that the contentsharing client has initiated a live stream. The server may then send asecond notification to the database that the content sharing client hasinitiated the live stream.

The methodologies practiced or taught by the '480 may thus providesupport for a stateless queue system implementation according tostateless queue system rules and protocol of the non-transitorycomputer-implementable application. The application provides or enablesa queue creation service 12 for (a) creating a content queue 3 and (b)storing (i) queue structure and (ii) support data in the database. Eachcontent sharing client 1/8 is independently operable to selectively addcontent to the content queue 3 by a select content addition mechanism,which select content addition mechanism is selected from the groupconsisting of bottom-based content addition, vote-based contentaddition, and direct modification-based content addition as previouslydescribed.

Recalling that the presently described stateless queue system buildsupon the concepts set forth in the '977 application, it is contemplatedthat the present invention may be further said to provide a method forimplementing social broadcasting within a social media platformcomprising a series of steps. A stateless queue service 12 provides acontent queue 3 for synchronized and queued content delivery to contentsharing clients 1/8 in communication with and implementing theapplication service 12.

A group origination content sharing client as at 1 sends to a server anAPI first request for sharing select content with group member contentsharing clients as at 8 in communication with the group originationcontent sharing client 1 via the server and the application service 12.The API first request is generated by an application running on thegroup origination content sharing client 1. The virtual room holding thestateless queue of the stateless queue system is created on user signup. Invitations can be sent out on demand by users who enter the virtualroom or automatically triggered when a select person enters the virtualroom. The room exists even when there are no participants in the virtualroom. Thus the system is stateless and no consumption is required tomaintain the session. The playback position changes with time and votesor direct user modification. If there are no voting changes, then timeis the only modifying factor.

Each group member content sharing client 1/8 may be prompted withinformation associated with the select content. In this regard, itshould be noted that the server can prompt clients or the clients canpoll on a timer-based mechanism. This step contemplates either scenario.Each group member content sharing client 1/8 may query a user-preferredsource for the select content associated with the information; and theselect content may be sourced to each group member content sharingclient 1/8 from the user-preferred source selected from one or morecontent sources in communication with each group member content sharingclient. Each content source is characterized by a separate legal accesspoint as described in more detail in the '977 application. Each groupmember content sharing client 1/8 is preferably independently operableto selectively add content to the content queue 3 by a select contentaddition mechanism as previously described.

A content broadcast system according to the present invention mayfurther provide for an optimally sourced broadcast to a social consumergroup. The content broadcast system may be said to comprise anon-transitory, computer-implementable application for routing select,consumable, legally-protected, and queue-able content to individualmembers of the social consumer group from an optimal legal access pointassociated with each individual member and as determined from at leasttwo legal access points. The at least two legal access points consist ofa user's own legal access point and at least one third party legalaccess point.

The queue-able content is queue-able via a queue creation service of thenon-transitory, computer-implementable application. A content queue, itsstructure, and support data may be stored in a separate database.Independent clients of the social consumer group are independentlyoperable to selectively add content to the content queue by a selectmechanism, the select mechanism being selected from the group consistingof bottom-based content addition, vote-based content addition, anddirect modification-based content addition.

A group streaming system enables individual members of a user group toqueue and stream synchronized content in a social environment. The groupstreaming system according to the present invention may be said tocomprise a non-transitory, computer-implementable application forimplementing a stateless queue system and a plurality ofapplication-implementing computer clients for implementing thenon-transitory, computer-implementable application.

The computer-implementable application provides a queue creation servicefor (a) creating a content queue and (b) storing queue structure andsupport data in a separate database. The plurality ofapplication-implementing computer clients are (c) independently operableto selectively add content to the content queue by a select contentaddition mechanism, and (d) in communication with at least two contentsources. The at least two content sources are each characterized by aseparate legal access point thus defining at least two legal accesspoints for each computer client.

The computer-implementable application further identifies select contentand directs delivery of the select content from a select optimal contentresource location for each computer client. Each select optimal contentresource location is preferably selected from the at least two contentsources. The members of the user group are thereby able tosimultaneously access the queued select content for the purpose ofproviding a content-based platform for social interaction. The groupstreaming system may further preferably comprise a dialogue platform inthe form of chat or live video overlays as described in more detail inthe '480 and '977 applications. The dialogue platform enables members ofthe user group to engage in real-time dialogue regarding at least theselect content.

Accordingly, although the inventive system and method have beendescribed by reference to a number of varying exemplary systems andmethodologies, it is not intended that the computer-implemented systemsand methods be limited thereby, but that modifications thereof areintended to be included as falling within the broad scope and spirit ofthe materials incorporated by reference, the foregoing disclosures, thefollowing claims, and the drawings, both diagrammatic and illustrative,submitted in support of these specifications.

What is claimed is:
 1. A stateless queue system for allowing at leastone client to consume synchronized and queued content, the statelessqueue system comprising: a non-transitory, computer-readable mediumstoring a computer-implementable application for implementing thestateless queue system; and at least one application-implementingcomputer client for implementing the non-transitory,computer-implementable application; the computer-implementableapplication providing a queue creation service for creating a contentqueue and storing queue structure and support data in a database, the atleast one application-implementing computer client being independentlyoperable to selectively add content to the content queue by a selectcontent addition mechanism, the select content addition mechanism beingselected from the group consisting of bottom-based content addition,vote-based content addition, and direct modification-based contentaddition.
 2. The stateless queue system of claim 1 wherein content addedvia bottom-based content addition is appended to a queue bottom andassigned a playback start time, the playback start time being based on aplayback start time and duration of a precedent content item.
 3. Thestateless queue system of claim 1 comprising a Network Time Protocol(NTP) server in communication with a plurality of computer clients andwherein the content queue is played back to the plurality of computerclients in a select synchronization manner governed via the NTP server.4. The stateless queue system of claim 3 wherein the selectsynchronization manner is selected from a group consisting of aserver-direct synchronization mechanism or a server-indirectsynchronization mechanism.
 5. The stateless queue system of claim 4wherein the server-direct synchronization mechanism is characterized byindependent client-to-server and service-to-server linkages.
 6. Thestateless queue system of claim 4 wherein the server-indirectsynchronization mechanism is characterized by a service-to-serverlinkage and a client-to-service linkage.
 7. The stateless queue systemof claim 6 wherein the plurality of computer clients synchronize withserver time by obtaining server time and adjusting server time by aportion of fulfillment time.
 8. The stateless queue system of claim 4wherein playback is synchronized by calculating the current playbackqueue position, the current playback queue position being calculated bysubtracting item playback start time from a synchronized time.
 9. Thestateless queue system of claim 1 wherein the content queue comprises animmutable portion and a mutable portion, the immutable portioncomprising played and playing content items, the mutable portion beingamenable via the select content addition mechanism.
 10. The statelessqueue system of claim 9 wherein queue order is determined via vote-basedcontent addition by vote number in descending order, the queue orderbeing calculated either periodically via timer or iteratively when a newvote is submitted.
 11. The stateless queue system of claim 9 whereinqueue order is determined via direct modification-based content additionby manual client prioritization of content items.
 12. The statelessqueue system of claim 9 wherein the mutable portion is governed by aplayback recalculation protocol in the event of content addition, theplayback recalculation protocol being characterized by movement of aselect content item to a new queue position, the select content itemhaving a successive content item, the successive content item inheritingthe start time of the select content item, all other content itemsrecalculating respective start times from the successive content itemand an inherited start time thereof.
 13. The stateless queue system ofclaim 12 wherein all other content items recalculate respective starttimes from the successive content item and the inherited start time byadding duration of each respective content item to a precedent contentitem start time.
 14. A stateless queue system for allowing multipleclients to consume synchronized and queued content, the stateless queuesystem comprising: a non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing acomputer-implementable application for implementing the stateless queuesystem; and a series of application-implementing computer clients forimplementing the non-transitory, computer-implementable application; thecomputer-implementable application providing a queue creation servicefor creating a content queue and storing queue structure and supportdata in a database, the series of application-implementing computerclients being independently operable to selectively add content to thecontent queue by a select content addition mechanism, the select contentaddition mechanism being selected from the group consisting ofbottom-based content addition, vote-based content addition, and directmodification-based content addition.
 15. The stateless queue system ofclaim 14 wherein content added via bottom-based content addition isappended to a queue bottom and assigned a playback start time, theplayback start time being based on a playback start time and duration ofa precedent content item.
 16. The stateless queue system of claim 14comprising a Network Time Protocol (NTP) server in communication with aplurality of computer clients and wherein the content queue is playedback to the plurality of computer clients in a select synchronizationmanner governed via the NTP server; the select synchronization mannerbeing selected from a group consisting of a server-directsynchronization mechanism or a server-indirect synchronizationmechanism; the server-direct synchronization mechanism beingcharacterized by independent client-to-server and service-to-serverlinkages; the server-indirect synchronization mechanism beingcharacterized by a service-to-server linkage and a client-to-servicelinkage.
 17. The stateless queue system of claim 14 wherein the contentqueue comprises an immutable portion and a mutable portion, theimmutable portion comprising played and playing content items, themutable portion being amenable via the select content additionmechanism.
 18. The stateless queue system of claim 17 wherein queueorder is determined via vote-based content addition by vote number indescending order, the queue order being calculated either periodicallyvia timer or iteratively when a new vote is submitted.
 19. The statelessqueue system of claim 17 wherein queue order is determined via directmodification-based content addition by manual client prioritization ofcontent items.
 20. The stateless queue system of claim 17 wherein themutable portion is governed by a playback recalculation protocol in theevent of content addition, the playback recalculation protocol beingcharacterized by movement of a select content item to a new queueposition, the select content item having a successive content item, thesuccessive content item inheriting the start time of the select contentitem, all other content items recalculating respective start times fromthe successive content item and an inherited start time thereof.